Attempts have been made to generate electricity without also disrupting ecosystems, which always happens when a river is dammed, without generating environmental pollutants, which always happens when fossil fuels are burned and, without using inherently dangerous fissile materials, which nuclear power requires. While wind turbines might be considered unsightly and tidal systems require their being located proximate to the ocean, systems and methods for generating electric power that use forces of nature are environmentally harmless. A system and method for generating electric power that does not depend on the relatively unpredictable wind, or solar energy that is not available at night and which does not necessarily require placement in an ocean would be an improvement over the prior art.